Face Your Fears!
by KilledByTheHuntress
Summary: "You saw the sign on the way here, Peeta," I say, "'The Most Haunted House in the Village.' You should always be expecting it." I shake my head in disgust; it's like their proud of that or something. Modern-day AU. Rated T for dark themes.


_Okay, so I'll start off my saying a big thank you to the tumblr users, herainab, alaterielgildaen and carolinepeeta because without you guys, this wouldn't have been possible._

_I do not own The Hunger Games Series or their characters in anyway shape or form. _

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The sun beats hot against my back as I hesitate before stepping over the threshold. A loud sigh sounds from my right and I turn to see Peeta grimace.

"It was your idea to come here, Peeta. Don't tell me you've changed your mind already?" He shakes his head, no, as the heavy door swings shut behind us. The loud slam echoes around us, drawing him closer to me.

"Just a little nervous, is all." He mutters as I shiver slightly. I pull my jacket around me tighter as I take the time to look around us. The rosewood panelling, which surrounds very little floral wallpaper, makes the room seem darker than it ought to be. The hardwood floor, which is covered with a dark patterned rug, adds to the darkness in the room.

I take a step towards the door; I'm guessing, leads to the living room, the boards creaking underneath my foot. As I reach for the door handle loud footfalls rattle the light fixture above our heads, quickly followed by a cackling sound. I drop my hand from the handle as Peeta suddenly takes a tight hold on my waist, all but pressing himself against my back.

"What's the matter? Scared?" I taunt, mimicking his earlier words.

Again, he shakes his head, a scowl to rival mine forming on his lips. "No! I just wasn't expecting it."

"You saw the sign on the way here, Peeta," I say, "'The Most Haunted House in the Village.' You should always be expecting it." I shake my head in disgust; it's like their proud of that or something.

He takes a step away from me "I know that, Katniss. Christ," He sighs "It was one time," he reaches past us both and takes hold of the handle, pushing the door open.

"One time… So far," I taunt before the dank air hits me, I cringe and reach a hand up to cover my nose. "Jeez, it stinks in here!" I walk ahead slightly and stop behind the couch. Running my fingers over the plush material, I watch as Peeta makes his way towards the fire place and begins to play with the small trinkets on the mantelpiece.

I look around and find that this room isn't much different to the foyer, the dark panelled walls and flooring adding to the darkness of the house. The drapes sway eerily against the windowpanes, even though there's no draft. And there seems to be cobwebs hidden in every nook and corner.

I shudder.

I hate spiders.

I carry myself around the couch and sit down on the edge, reaching over and switching on the dust-covered lamp. It isn't very bright, but it's an improvement at least. On the table, next to the lamp, I find a small box. I pick it up and turn the key before opening the lid, disconcerting music begins to fill the room and from the corner of my eye I see Peeta tense.

I quickly slam the lid of the box closed and put it back where I found it, looking towards him, "Wanna go to the next room?" I ask quietly. He nods quickly and grabs my wrist tightly; all but hauling me to the next door.

As soon as we're through the archway he slams the door, pressing his back against it as if it'll keep the music box further away. He's glaring at me "Peeta, I'm sorry! I forgot. It was a simple mistake, how many people do you know who are scared of music boxes?" I look up at his face again to find the glare soften slightly.

"Forgot or not, Kat. A little heads up next time would be nice." I nod.

"I can do that." He nods acceptingly before lifting his head up and looking behind me at the room. I follow his lead and turn to look around; the room itself is lighter than the previous two. The gold Bentinck wallpaper glowing from the little light the room attracts.

"I'm guessing this is the dining room." Peeta mentions, more to himself than to question me. I nod anyway, taking a step towards the large mahogany table in the centre of the room, four of the eight seats are turned slightly away from the blue and white china tea set in the centre, almost as if someone, or four someone's, got up in a hurry and never made it back to finish.

Peeta moves to the side of me and reaches over to inspect the china, lifting the lid of the teapot; the rotting smell of the teabags fills the air.

I wrinkle my nose in disgust and step back, the back of my foot hitting the metal fire grate over. The loud clang of metal stings my ears and I turn around quickly and step backwards, falling into Peeta's chest. I look down at the fallen grate in time to see a large black spider move quickly from the forgotten ash and over my foot.

I shriek and shake my foot madly, not caring where the spider ends up. I take advantage of Peeta's steady hold on me as I all but run to the next door. The kitchen, it would seem, is decorated in various amounts of black and white. Patterned ceramic tiles cover the floor, while the walls are sectioned slightly, black under the kitchen themed separator and white above it.

"One time… So far," my companion mimics me.

"Oh bite me Peeta!" I say angrily as I look around the room.

Besides the door leading out towards the garden and the door Peeta and I just entered through, there are two more. One, which is over by the fridge, so I'm guessing it leads to the pantry and the other; I'm guessing leads to the next section of the house. At the bottom of both these doors there are dark red stains, they look as if someone has already tried to clean them up, but they've been unsuccessful. "So, I'm going to lead a guess and say that the colouration of the water in here isn't from rust?" Peeta asks. He's peering into the sink; I shake my head and point to a knife at his feet.

"Doubt it, the knife's got the same kind of stains as the floor."

"And the walls…" He nods towards the wall behind me; I turn and make a quick scan. Of course, true to his word, there are small splashing's of crimson on the walls too.

"Is it just me, or can you smell decomposing food? You'd have thought whoever closed up this place would have binned everything." I grouch moving over to the pantry. Opening the door, the horrid air hits me harder, causing me to gag.

"Don't you dare throw-up Katniss Everdeen, or so help me!"

"So help you..." I mimic hoarsely, "Of course 'so help you' because if I throw-up, you know you're going to end up joining me!" I scowl at him as he glares back. Slowly I turn back to the pantry and my eyes widen "Oh, my god!" I breathe. Amidst all the spoiled food are small jars filled with what looks to be a thick, dark red liquid.

"Is that… blood?" Peeta asks from just behind me. He steps passed me and into the pantry before picks up one of the jars, shaking it. He shakes his head and his face morphs into a mask of disgust before putting it back. "Let's get out of here."

He quickly moves over and opens the other door, leading me through it cautiously and into an empty hallway. The dim overhead lights are flickering and from where I'm standing I can barely make out the shape of the three doorways that are here. The window to my left is boarded up, which must mean so are the others if there are any. There's a faded green rug which leads down the hall. Looking down I can see the crimson stains from the kitchen have carried on out to here, as if whatever was bleeding was dragged along the corridor and on top of the rug.

_That was careless_, I think, _next time pick up the carpet._

Walking down the corridor, I find that the floral wallpaper is faded too; I reach the first door and twist the handle. The door opens to reveal a bathroom which looks like its seen better days, the mirror above the broken sink looks to have been shattered, broken by a punch. The bath is filled with more of the red liquid we found in the pantry. And the toilet, well the toilet is definitely unusable, considering its being clogged with what I can only guess looks to be hair. I shudder and quickly close the door to the room.

I turn to see my companion has already ventured further down the hallway and is waiting for me. I follow him but stop as I reach the second door, only to find out as I try the handle that it's locked. I shrug to myself and turn to Peeta,

"Yeah, I tried that one out. But you know how stubborn you can be about things like that. I thought I'd let you try anyway." I nod my head and watch as he turns the handle to the last door. I wrinkle my nose at the darkness and watch as he steps inside.

Before I have chance to move into the room, the door slams shut behind him. "Peeta!" I shout.

"Katniss, this isn't funny!" He yells back. "Open the door!"

"I'm not doing anything!" I cry, moving towards the door and trying the handle, no luck. From through the door I hear faint music, similar to the one from the music box in the living room start to play. I can hear Peeta yelling at me from through the door and I start to bash my hands on the door, trying desperately to open it.

The music continues to get louder until I can no longer hear his calls for help. I don't know how much time passes but soon the music comes to a sudden halt. I press my ear against the door and hear no signs of anything on the other side.

"Peeta?" I question quietly but only silence greets me. I turn the handle to the door, not expecting to be let in, but it works. I pull the door open and peer inside; it's eerily quiet... and dark. I wrap my jacket further around me before stepping inside, the door slamming shut behind me.

I slink to the centre of the room, or what I hope is the centre, before I hear anything. Slight scuffle sounds, like insects crawling can be heard and I shudder timidly, not knowing what to expect.

Suddenly, in front of me a spot on the wall lights up and I find myself facing a spider. I step back and the light goes out, the arachnid going with it. I bump into something behind me and turn around, I can't see anything.

I screw my eyes shut and hope that whatever's going to happen, happens. When I open them again, a flash of colour catches the corner of my eye I look to my right, seeing a set of red eyes staring at me. My eyes widen and again, I take a step away from them.

The eyes step towards me as a strobe light flashes and from what I can see in the limited time I'm given, I find myself face to face with another spider, although this one's bigger than I am.

I turn quickly, rubbing my hands along the walls in hope of finding something, anything that could help me. When I finally feel the wood of a door under my palm I search for the handle blindly. I turn to face the spider as I grip the cool metal tightly; the arachnid still approaching me.

I turn the handle.

It's locked.

"No, no, no…" I whisper. I turn and press my back against the door, sliding down to the floor. The spider's getting closer to me and I curl up into myself, closing my eyes.

When I open them again I find myself looking into the eyes of the monster, its face inches from mine.

I scream, loud. My fist pounding on the door behind me before quickly covering my face with them. Suddenly the noise stops and the door falls open. I turn my head quickly before I fall and see Peeta.

I find myself quickly being pulled into his strong arms and I return the embrace, my body trembling in fear.

"Christ Finnick, was there any need in going that far? Not only is she trembling, but she's crying too."

I wipe my cheeks and find that he's right; I am or was crying. I shake my head and bury it into Peeta's chest.

"Hey, sorry Peet. Didn't wanna do that. I'm just meant to scare people, is all." I hear the voice of our other friend from college. I turn slightly and see him, his bronze hair pasted to his head, the head of a spider costume tucked under his arm as he looks at me apologetically. "Sorry Kat," He mumbles.

I glare at him before focusing it on Peeta, "That's the last time you talk me into going to a fucking Horror House, got it?"

Peeta nods solemnly, "Got it Kat." Lifting my chin he presses his lips against mine in a small kiss.

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_Please let me know what you think!:D_


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